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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27977724">Broken bones and beating hearts</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schangia/pseuds/Schangia'>Schangia</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Delinquents, Enemies to Lovers, Highschool Delinquents, M/M, Zine, and saved his ass afterwards, delinquent au, kuroo and yaku as highschool delinquents, yaku totally broke kuroo's nose</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:33:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,364</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27977724</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schangia/pseuds/Schangia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>From the moment they met, Kuroo thought of Yaku as his fated rival. Turns out he's a bit more than that.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kuroo Tetsurou/Yaku Morisuke</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Broken bones and beating hearts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kuroo and Yaku hadn't always been partners in crime. Back when they had met for the first time—underneath one of the many bridges crossing the broad river of their home town—they had been the leaders of their respective group of middle school delinquents, facing each other in a territorial dispute. Like two forces being pulled towards each other they had clashed, throwing their fists with a precision and purpose that left their comrades speechless for a few seconds.</p>
<p>Kuroo had managed to give Yaku a rather concerning black eye, but Yaku had broken his nose and two of his fingers in return. For the first time in his life, Kuroo considered himself the loser of a brawl, and as he watched Yaku leave with his head held high and his wound of honour for the whole town to admire, he couldn't help but feel intrigued.</p>
<p>This was the last summer of their middle school days, and Kuroo wondered when he would get another chance to fight his new-found rival again.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>*</p>
</div>Their second meeting came with spring when they enrolled in the same high school by accident. Kuroo's only reason for joining this particular high school was its neighbourhood. Many of his favourite arcades and food stalls were located in the school's vicinity, so if he decided to actually go to class on some off chance, he'd have more interesting sources of entertainment around once he got bored.<p>On his first day, Kuroo didn't even think twice to skip the opening ceremony. He hated being confined to closed crowded spaces, and even if the gymnasium looked large enough to comfortably fit all new students, he still didn't want to listen to their headmaster rambling on about boring topics like good grades and school spirit. He wouldn't be joining a club anyway.</p>
<p>As he was walking around the school grounds, Kuroo familiarised himself with his new territory. His eyes naturally wandered to all the blind spots and hiding places which would probably become his most visited sites in school within the next few days. Eventually, he arrived at a row of cherry blossom trees framing the school yard. For a brief moment, Kuroo allowed himself to focus on the sight before him; the dark branches heavy with pale cherry blossoms, weighing them down, and the constant breeze sending the petals on their last journey towards the ground.</p>
<p>Then his eyes fell on the boy standing inside the storm of petals.</p>
<p>Yaku, who was obviously just as uninterested in the opening ceremony as he was, stared at him defiantly, his body tense and his face hard. Kuroo didn't know what to say. He was surprised at how happy he was to meet Yaku again, and at how he wondered what the other boy had been up to since their last fight, but he couldn't tell him any of that. Instead, he did what he always resorted to when he was unsure: provoking his opponent.</p>
<p>“Wow, you're actually my age, shorty? And here I thought you were a preschool kid trying to play with the big boys.”</p>
<p>Yaku moved so fast Kuroo could hardly finish his sentence. They were on the ground within seconds, with Yaku on top of him, attempting to break his nose again. Kuroo hadn't felt this excited since last summer, and while adrenalin was rushing through his veins, he actually forgot to fight back. </p>
<p>All he could do was chuckle like a maniac when Yaku's fist collided with his nose, staining the cherry blossoms on the ground with blood.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>*</p>
</div>Whenever people looked at the two of them next to each other, they always thought Kuroo was the dangerous one, with his tall build, lopsided smile and provocative sneer. But underneath his neatly ironed shirt, Yaku was all lean muscle and violence, ready to jump into action as soon as someone so much as looked at him or Kuroo the wrong way. It amused Kuroo endlessly to finally be the one who was content enough just yelling insults at people while Yaku skipped a few steps and simply beat others up right away.<p>Kuroo appreciated Yaku's way of handling things; without it, they probably wouldn't have grown so close.</p>
<p>A few weeks after their brawl under the cherry blossoms, some thug from a different high school had picked a fight with Kuroo. He vaguely remembered him from his days in middle school, but he had forgotten how cowardly his opponent had always been.</p>
<p>When he had challenged Kuroo to a fight in an abandoned building one afternoon, Kuroo had arrived by himself; his opponent had brought a dozen other people thirsty for blood.</p>
<p>Despite all his experience and physical strength, even Kuroo couldn't fight that many opponents at the same time. He managed to take down about half of them, but he could tell that things were looking alarmingly bad for him. The only thing that kept him going was his pride; if he was going down, he would take as many of these cowards with him as he could.</p>
<p>As his punches were getting weaker, Kuroo suddenly stumbled backward—only to be supported by slim shoulders before he fell to the floor. Yaku's grin as their eyes met was wild and radiant; a fierce promise of victory. Ignoring his aching limbs, Kuroo straightened his back and returned the grin, pushing all his questions to the back of his mind. There was a fight to be won first.</p>
<p>Countless thrown punches later, Kuroo and Yaku were sitting next to each other on the dirty floor, leaning against a wall for support and breathing heavily. They were the only ones left in the building after their opponents had taken flight. Both of them were bruised and battered, Kuroo more so than Yaku, but they were the clear winners of this fight and in their world that was all that mattered in the end.</p>
<p>It took Kuroo a few minutes to realise how incredibly close they were sitting. Now that he had calmed down his breathing, he could actually feel Yaku's body heat radiating off him. He liked how comforting it felt. After another minute of silence, Kuroo shifted his leg and lightly bumped Yaku's knee with his own.</p>
<p>“I could've dealt with them myself.”</p>
<p>Kuroo's voice sounded oddly quiet inside the large building. He felt Yaku shrug against his shoulder.</p>
<p>“I'm the only one allowed to beat you up. Simple as that,” he said, voice filled with a certainty Kuroo hadn't heard from anyone in years.</p>
<p>He thought Yaku looked beautiful in the light of the setting sun, with blood smeared across his lips and knuckles, his hair messy and with determination burning in his eyes along with a different emotion Kuroo couldn't quite place.</p>
<p>Before he could stop himself, Kuroo leaned in, grabbed Yaku by his collar and pulled him close enough to kiss him. He was expecting a fist to connect with his jaw because he had probably crossed a line, but instead a pair of impatient hands found its way in his hair and another breath was mixing with his own.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>*</p>
</div>They had been inseparable ever since, even if they never dared to define just what kind of relationship they had.<p>All Kuroo knew was that Yaku had come crashing into his life with a force he couldn't possibly withstand. Apart from the violence that had filled his days so far, there was something else now, something fundamentally different. It was in the way Yaku absent-mindedly traced Kuroo's knuckles with his fingers when they were holding hands, or in how much care he put into preparing lunch for them.</p>
<p>Kuroo could feel it when they fought side by side just as much as when they skipped their classes to relax on the school's rooftop together. The unknown emotion slowly seeped into his life, and every time he locked eyes with Yaku (who looked outrageously cute drowning in his much larger shirt) it grew just a little stronger.</p>
<p>Kuroo didn't mind that he couldn't quite place his finger on what he should name his feelings. If he could just keep fighting with Yaku by his side, he knew he'd find out eventually.</p>
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